Berkeley Cinemas refers to a two-complex premium brand of cinemas owned by

Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

Pty Australia. Previously owned by Everard Entertainment, the Berkeley Cinema Group was one of the largest cinema chains in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, with complexes in Mission Bay,

Hibiscus Coast The Hibiscus Coast is a populated area on a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It has a population of making it the List of New Zealand urban areas by population, 10th most populous urban area in New Zealand, ...

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is an isthmus between Shoal Bay, New Zealand, Shoal Bay, arm of the Waitematā Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. Lake Pupuke, a volca ...

, and

Botany Downs Botany Downs is an eastern suburb of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. This residential area previously formed part of the East Tāmaki area. In terms of local-body administration, the suburb lies in the Howick ward, one of the thirteen a ...

. After being bought out by Hoyts Pty Australia in May 2010, its Hibiscus Coast and Botany Downs complexes were rebranded to become Hoyts complexes, leaving Mission Bay and Takapuna as the "Berkeley" Cinemas. Berkeley Cinemas was the first cinema chain in Auckland to introduce higher-end seating towards the rear of individual theatres (called the "Circle Lounge"), offering restaurant amenities for a higher ticket price. Before Hoyts built its Guinness World Record breaking screen at Sylvia Park in 2007, the Botany Downs complex hosted New Zealand's largest cinema screen, "The Sumo Screen", with a size equivalent to 519 42" screens, and a theatre capacity of 491 seats. The Mission Bay complex was Berkeley's first and original complex, and has four cinemas ranging in seating capacity from 80 to 100 seats, and has a lounge-style bar. The Takapuna complex, which opened in 2001, replaced the original Tudor theatre (which had one cinema) with a new four-auditorium theatre, bar and restaurant (previously Akdenis, then Onion Johnny, now Marvel Grill). The complex was the first in Auckland to implement a telephone reservation system, and has four cinemas ranging in seating capacity from 78 to 152 seats.

References

External links

Hoyts Cinemas New Zealand
Cinemas in New Zealand Entertainment companies of New Zealand {{NewZealand-company-stub